Monday, February 1, 2016
Mortality Rates for Middle-Aged Whites Not Just About Drugs, Suicide, Says Commonwealth Fund
At the end of 2015, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton published a startling finding: since 1999, death rates have been rising for non- Hispanic, white Americans between the ages of 45 and 54, reversing a decades-long decline.1 The authors largely attribute this reversal to rising rates of drug poisonings, suicides, and alcohol-related liver disease. They also note that over the same period, middle-aged whites reported worsening self-reported health status, greater levels of pain, increased difficulty with activities of daily living, and more mental health problems.
In January 2016, the New York Times followed up on Case and Deaton’s findings with an analysis showing that the rise in white mortality rates has not been confined to middle-aged adults but has occurred among younger adults—those 25 to 34—as well.2 The main culprit: increasing abuse of prescription opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, and heroin. . .